Everyone is creative – it is an inherent ability of human beings to have ideas and put them into form. However, not everyone has the desire, talent, ability or opportunity to turn their creativity into economic activity. Those that do have the desire and talent may still lack the ability or opportunity to turn their ideas into income. Or, more accurately, they may perceive that they do not have the ability or the opportunity.
A creative economy is constantly evolving, mutating and adapting as a dynamic set of interrelated activities. It is fuelled at the basic level by creative individuals working often either alone or in small groups in order to make a living out of their talents and abilities. However the effects and influence of creativity reach to the highest levels of economic activity; from technology innovation and infrastructure development to financial and service industries, leisure and entertainment, transportation and global tourism.
From the current viewpoint it is clear that the most technologically advanced nations are having to deal with many of the consequences of the post industrial society. Such a society can be typically described to be one where the majority of those employed are no longer involved in the production of tangible goods and where information forms the basis of dominant economic activity. Innovation and creativity have become the driving forces behind technical and social change. Therefore the race is on to find ways of attracting innovation and creativity to those regions that are being depleted by economic migration and population leakage.
Many initiatives are being carried out around the world to attract such economic activity. There are established methods that can be used to entice large companies that specialise, for example, in information or bio technology and innovation. Typically, favourable financial packages involving tax breaks and financial support or ‘partnering’ are offered for the return guarantee of employment and investment. In this way a multitude of silicon ‘valleys’, ‘glens’, ‘corridors’ etc have sprung up around the planet.1
However, as the creative economy is formed from a mass of small companies and freelance individuals, it does not readily respond to the typical incentives that apply to established large businesses. While some standard financial enticement techniques may still be usefully employed, they will only be productive as a part of a much larger strategy, especially as large creative enterprises (typified by the film industry) can be highly flexible and move production to wherever the current best financial deals are available. Attracting business is itself a competitive market.
Around the world, variously publicised claims of ‘creative city’2 abound in an effort to attract this fast growth area of the global economy, so much so that the value of such claims have been debased. It is one thing to adopt a stance of creativity, quite another to fully engage in the holistic process of building a complex new economy for the post industrial society. It is yet to be seen which of these regions will succeed in attracting the critical mass of creative individuals needed to sustain a long term future however, the global nature of creativity means that all activity informs and supports other activity in complex ways. Competitors can be looked on as partners and the more focus is brought to the field of creative economic growth, the more likely hood there is of success.
1 for a comprehensive list, click here
2 exerpt list of creative cities
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